In-person or online classes?

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted every layer of the education sector, from early childhood through higher education.

In March of 2020, almost everyone thought schools shutting down would be a temporary situation and that students would be back in class like normal in no time. Last-minute plans were made with a rush to figure out virtual teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly half a year later, normal is nothing close to where we are.

Now, many people still don’t feel safe going back face-to-face, i.e., in-person yet. Government, schools, and universities are planning for a beginning like no other we have seen in the past. Although they are left uncertain on how to proceed, they are coming out with different plans which can be:

  • fully virtual;
  • hybrid, blended model or schedule;
  • in-person teaching with remote students;
  • teaching online and in-person simultaneously.

The threat of potential exposure to COVID-19 is scary. Some fear is acceptable because it makes you vigilant about taking precautions, but too much of it can do more harm than good.

I know there is some stress and worry for those who are teachers or parents who have a child that is going back to school in-person, whether full timeevery other day or every other week. They all worry about the kids’ adjustment to new methods to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

So, to talk about that, possible combinations are:

  • in-person, face-to-face, in-class, classroom, classroom-based, traditional, presential, on-campus / online, remote COURSE
  • in-person, face-to-face, traditional / online, remote, and remote live CLASSES
  • in-person, traditional/virtual, remote, online CLASSROOM
  • in-person / online, virtual school
  • online, distance EDUCATION
  • in-person, face to face, classroom-based, *traditional / virtual, online, remote, distance / blended *LEARNING/TEACHING
  • in-person/ remote, virtual STUDENT
  • hybrid, blended MODEL or SCHEDULE (under)
  • remote, online, and hybrid INSTRUCTION
  • being taught remotely, online or in a hybrid remote/online FORMAT

Right now, there are still a lot of questions about how resuming this school year will look. Many fine details need to be worked on, like markings on the hallways, walls, and desks as reminders of the safety measures, or the rules everyone will have to follow.

One of the only places masks will be able to come off inside of the buildings is in the cafeterias when students eat.

With all the rules, you might expect students to have a hard time, but some say that they are willing to follow the rules because they want to be back. They miss their teachers, the environment, the staff, the cafeteria, and all that interaction.

I believe government, institutions, teachers, and parents should all do what it takes to keep kids safe and get them the education they need.

View lessons on Remote classes, Computer problems and A ‘dead’ battery?, if you need.

Computer problems

Information Technology (IT) now dominate our lives. We use computers, the internet, mobile phones, scanners and printers to make our lives a lot easier. We have increased dependence on them, and most of us are not able to get by on a day-to-day basis without them as well. There is nothing more frustrating than when a computer isn’t working properly (e.g. when you can’t move the cursor – the arrow, on the screen) or isn’t working at all.

We will look at the vocabulary connected to computers and laptops (portable computers) when they have problems and ways to solve/fix them.

Read the following conversation between Juan and Peter. Peter is having problems with his laptop before giving a short Power Point presentation in a meeting.

From the context, try to guess what the meaning of the words/phrases in bold are. Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right.

Juan: ‘What’s happening Peter, you look frustrated?’

Peter: ‘My laptop won’t turn on. It was working before, I don’t know what’s wrong!’

Juan: ‘Is it plugged in?’

Peter: ‘Yeah, I have connected it to the electricity, but that shouldn’t be important because the laptop’s battery still has charge or power.’

Juan: ‘Are you sure that the socket in the wall has power? Try to plug it into another socket.’

Peter: ‘I’ve tried that already and the socket has power. I thought that there may be a problem with the power cable, but it’s working fine with the other laptop here.’

Juan: ‘I had a problem with my desktop computer last year where the wires had come loose in the power cable. So I had to replace the power cable. You can use my laptop to show it.’

Peter: ‘Thanks Juan, but I only saved the presentation to my hard drive. So I can’t show the presentation on your laptop.’

Juan: ‘Can you remember when I had that problem with my laptop in July. When suddenly the screen froze and the laptop wouldn’t respond when I pressed any of the keys on the keyboard or when I moved my finger on the touch pad. Sometimes it recovered and I could continue to use the application, but other times it crashed and stopped working completely. So, I had to reboot the laptop. It was so frustrating, because I sometimes lost all of the work I’d been doing. Then the application didn’t load at all, so I couldn’t even use it then. The technician told me it was a software fault with the application. So he just reinstalled the application and it’s been working fine.’

Peter :’I’m happy for you, but I don’t have any power to the laptop, so it’s not a software fault. It seems like a hardware fault.’

We’re now going to work on an online quiz, which will give us a definition/description of each of the words/phrases in bold from the above text. Fill in the blanks with one of these words/phrases in bold. Only use one word/phrase once and write it as it is in the text. Click on the “Check Answers” button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

Okay! I think it’s very important for us to know how to talk about that, although I truly hope none of these problems happen to you! 😉

Related lessons are: Remote classes and A ‘dead’ battery?

If you want additional work on computer problems, check this good listening lesson.

Independence Day

Brazil is celebrating its 198th anniversary as a nation today (birthday of the nation).

On September 7th 1822, a declaration of independence from Portugal was made by Pedro di Alcântara, the 23-year-old son of the Portuguese King.

After that, Pedro I became the first emperor of Brazil and forced Portuguese forces to leave Brazil. In 1889 Brazil finished its monarchy and became a republic but kept 7th September as its Independence Day.

On this day there are celebrations in the capital, Brasilia, with military parades, air shows, musical concerts and fireworks in the evening. Parties and parades will also take place in most state capitals.

Did you know?

The 27 stars on the blue globe represent the 27 states of Brazil. Though several stars have been added over the years, the stars are arranged to match the night sky over Rio de Janeiro on the evening of November 15th 1889.

Here are some interesting facts about Brazil:

Now, most of the people mispronounce the word independence. So listen and practice. 😉

https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/brazil/brazil-independence-day

A hero lies in you

How many things do you do every day? How many people do you provide for? How hard do you work to earn a living? What are your responsibilities? Are you or someone you love having to cope with a severe disease?

We tend to look up to (to admire or respect) some people, our heroes, as examples and role models. But think carefully. When you spend some time really listening to someone, when you have the money to pay all your bills, when you care for a sick person daily, you are a hero. That’s when a hero lies inside of you.

Look at the lyrics below. Look up the words you don’t know, and notice how they combine. Then play the game. Have fun!

Hero

There’s a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don’t have to be afraid
Of what you are
There’s an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you’ll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

It’s a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And that emptiness you felt
Will disappear

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you’ll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you
Mmm, that a hero lies in you

Lord knows, dreams are hard to follow
But don’t let anyone tear them away
Just hold on, there will be tomorrow
In time, you’ll find the way

And then a hero comes along, with the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside, and you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you’ll finally see the truth, that a hero lies in you

That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you

Daily routines 2

What do you do every day? What’s a typical day like for you?

Learning to talk about your daily routine is very important, and we learned many English words and phrases here.

In this lesson, you’ll learn different ways to talk about how you work, free time, hobbies, meals, eating habits, activities, and sleep habits. Listen carefully to pronunciation, and slow down playback speed, by clicking the Settings icon, if you need it.

Now, here are some questions for you to answer, based on the dialogue. Read the full script and look up new words, notice how they combine, and answer a Quiz here.

  • What’s your working day like?
  • What time do you start and finish?
  • Do you often work long hours?
  • Do you take any breaks during the day?
  • What do you do after work?
  • If you don’t work, or you have a different schedule, what do you do with your free time during the day?
  • Do you cook?
  • What do you do for lunch?
  • Do you eat at the same times every day?
  • Do you sometimes skip meals? Do you buy lunch, or cook at home and take food to work? Do you ever get takeaways in the evening?
  • What time do you usually get up or go to sleep?
  • Do you find it easy to get up early in the mornings?
  • How much sleep do you need every day?

After this lesson, you’ll be really able to tell everything about your routine, in a very nice way! 😉